nudnik

American

[nood-nik] / ˈnʊd nɪk /

noun

Slang.

a persistently dull, boring pest.

nudnik British

/ ˈnʌdnɪk /

noun

informal an annoying or boring person

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of nudnik

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50; from Yiddish, equivalent to nud- base of nudyen ( nudge ² ) + -nik -nik

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Tarantino has become a nudnik filmmaker, who grabs a viewer by the lapel and says—and says and says—what’s on his mind.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 27, 2019

Alice is a nudnik and a connoisseur and a troubled person.

From The New Yorker • May 1, 2015

Painted in glazes of vibrant, greenish yellow scrawled over a black surface are words like kibitzer and kvetcher; nudnik and nebbish.

From New York Times • Jun. 28, 2012

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023